Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016 has been a big year for me- marking a period of transition from University student to full-time work, one of lots of family bonding time, quality time with loved ones and appreciating what I've been blessed with. As always, NYE is a time to reflect on the year past and look forward to the year ahead. God willing, 2017 has some big shoes to fill!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

By Day 3 we were pretty tired from walking so much but there was still so much to see and do! This was the last day we would spend in the city as we were leaving for the Mornington Peninsula the next day. We explored Brunswick Street, had a tourist moment in the Melbourne Museum, experienced the Melbourne ritual of Hosier Lane and ate at the much-hyped Chin Chin.

Friday, December 2, 2016

The bustling city of Melbourne proved friendlier on day 2 with orientation and recognition of places and landmarks. The free tram zone was great and super handy for visitors like us.

I had planned to visit Hardware Societe for breakfast and had been warned that a 30-45 minute wait was absolutely normal in Melbourne and Sydney, whereas anything longer than a 5 minute wait, or in most places any wait at all is unexpected in Brisbane.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Last week I traveled to Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula for a family holiday and it was a blast! I'll journal my travel diaries in a series of posts because I brought my camera along and took a lot of photos. I graduated from university in July but since I was working I didn't have a holiday to celebrate finishing school and this was the closest thing.

We had to wake up at 5am to give us enough time to clear all our parking arrangements and it was much earlier than any of us are used to waking. I bought a couple of coffees from Merlo at the domestic terminal gate and they were hella expensive.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

I have a new bag! I was on the lookout for a higher end 'investment' bag to use when I wasn't carting around umbrellas and water bottles and tea flasks and Bible in my Longchamp Le Pliage Medium. I've wanted the Michael Kors Selma for a long time but now that every second girl on the street has one I can see how it wears (not as well as I'd thought) and I don't think I could part with that much money for a bag. I had spotted a gorgeous tote from Status Anxiety on Instagram's Suggested page once and regretfully I didn't see what it was called (and I still haven't found out what it was because it's not part of their current range) but when I was browsing their offerings this one caught my eye. I graduated from Colette by Colette Hayman bags to my Longchamp Le Pliage earlier this year when I got my first full-time job and it's been very good to me but it was time for something new. I ordered it on sale from Rushfaster and it came in a record 3 days(!) which made me very impressed by AusPost.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

I haven't done a personal post in a while and I thought I'd post about what I've been up to- mostly been working and enjoying Brisbane in my spare time- little things like taking the ferry instead of the bus and eating at new places instead of our usual haunts.

My family had a Sunday picnic in the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and I brought my big girl camera along. We don't take many photos together...

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Happy Long Weekend from Brisbane and our eccentric ways with public holidays! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S OCTOBER?! I've still caught myself writing 2015 on the tops of pages as recently as last month- and it's going to be 2017 in three months! I have a long overdue favourites post today, with some of these favourites dating back to (what would have been) my June favourites, but I've finally rounded them all up for a good old-fashioned monthly favourites post! I've been a bit busy with work and church and Bible Study Fellowship but thank God everything has been cruisey.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Apologies for my sporadic blogging! I've been busy and a bit sleep-deprived. Much has happened since my last post! I've seen two concerts, celebrated a wonderful wedding, seen a few movies and started celebrating Peter's birthday week! Trying to be content with where I'm at in life instead of wishing to be 5 years ahead as I know it will pass quickly and I should savour each stage as it comes.

Bought Peter tickets to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for his birthday! Fun light show during Thrift Shop in his big coat.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

So comes the time to move onto a new chapter- I graduated from my undergraduate degree last Tuesday! I LOVE that I can look back on my last few years as they've been documented on my blog - I feel like I've changed significantly. I was working a few hours a week as a waitress in a bistro for the first three years of my degree and I put all the money I earned towards makeup and food. I'm actually glad to say that this is no longer the case! What blogging and Instagram don't show is the real life that goes on beyond the lipsticks, cleansers and cafes, and the money and work that goes into producing content. I love blogging and I love trying out beauty products but they don't take pride of place in my life because in letting them go, I found so much more.

Very blessed and thankful not to have to cram for exams or spend late nights and early mornings on assignments anymore!

Monday, June 20, 2016

I heard about Zoe Foster-Blake's brand Go-To Skincare a couple of years ago but it wasn't until I ran out of my bottle from Kosmea a few weeks ago and direly needed a replacement that I placed an order. They are cruelty-free, natural and free of mysterious wonder ingredients, and backed by a beauty editor with a career of experience and a hilarious husband to boot. I decided to try the Face Hero facial oil as well as the Very Useful Face Cream because I'm running low on my First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. I passed on the other products as I have a cleanser which works very well for me, I use great exfoliating swipeys from Nip+Fab and while I would like a new serum. they don't make serums. I was very tempted by Lips! but decided I didn't need a fancy lip balm, even if the packaging is adorable. That goes for everything that Go-To do; the packaging is crazily cute and very fun.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Posting an update with another wave of food and haul photos! Sorry for my erratic posts - I've been balancing an office job with part-time study and while I've been making some interesting purchases here and there, it doesn't leave much room for dedicated photographing and picking products apart the way I was afforded when I was a student. I've made a few purchases and I've started taking zinc supplements, which seems to be helping my skin out! I'm considering omitting dairy from my diet but I love my cappuccinos and melty cheese so I have too many soft spots to give up dairy for good. I had a cold, got better, and I'm nursing a second bout of the cold so this week I found some time to get these photos together. Hope you enjoy!

Visited Sonder in Sunnybank with a friend and we tried their premium green teas and their desserts - I got the anmitsu (agar agar jelly, red bean paste, mochi rounds, matcha ice cream and kuromitsu brown sugar syrup) instead of one of their parfaits that are so popular on Instagram because I was recovering from a cold and didn't want the cornflakes or vanilla soft-serve in the parfait. I love their crockery and the vibe they're trying to achieve but it's so busy and noisy that the ambience of an intimate, cosy cafe just wasn't there.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Birthdays were a big deal when I was growing up but presents weren't so to be receiving presents is quite a change indeed! On the 20th I turned 22, and it definitely equaled and possibly surpassed the celebrations when I turned 21! I spent the week flitting between work and play, and I was so blessed to have gifts and member rewards and well-wishes from so many loved ones.

Monday, April 18, 2016

I haven't posted a photo update in a month so I gathered a few of them together so that I could get this post up before I write about my birthday festivities! I turn 22 on the 20th and because my family's all over the place we started celebrating on the weekend. Juggling study, work and life- the Easter break was a nice time to get away and we saw some beautiful scenic places and ate some great food. There are some good movies out too- I highly recommend Zootopia!

Motto Motto soft-serves are so good! This is matcha-vanilla marble. The last time we got these we got stopped by 3 different people asking where we bought our ice-creams from because there isn't anywhere else in the Garden City dining precinct to get ice-creams.

Monday, April 4, 2016

I wrote this post up and realised I'd forgotten to include an intro so I've come back in to say hi and start this off properly. March was a long month for me, but with the Easter break it flew into April quicker than I expected. I was feeling spendy and bombed out on some splurges- though concert tickets for my boyfriend's birthday later this year were a present! I decided to invest in my skin a bit more- SPF, less makeup and I'm currently trialing Mario Badescu's Enzyme Revitalising Mask in an attempt to fade some spot scars. It's no surprise that I'm struggling with my skin but half of March was spent battling some serious spottage on my face- I'm talking like 5 monstrosities that took a good week to heal and will take a month to fade, hence the efforts to amp up skincare game. My hair on the other hand, is well-taken-care-of after a trip to the salon where I got 99% of my split ends cut off and a nice fresh trim. I've started styling it and I'm much happier with where it's at now.

Friday, February 26, 2016

It's surprising to think that one-sixth of 2016 has already passed, but here we are, on the cusp of March! I've combined Jan and Feb's favourites because I didn't have a lot to love over January. I did buy a few things in my bedridden time at home and took the time to try them out in February so I could see how they went and present them tried, tested and true!

Monday, February 22, 2016

Work, wisdom teeth surgery and the annual Bible Training Conference have kept me busy in January and most of February, but I've been saving snippets of things to post in this update! I've got some exciting products to share in a Favourites post soon so that's coming in a week or so. Once again, as I am wont to do, I will mention the weather; it's been hot and humid and honestly it feels like we don't even know what summer is, because some days are almost exactly like our famous perfect Brisbane winter days (windy but sunny and not too cold, in case you don't know what our famous perfect Brisbane winter is like) and some days are downright unpleasant so I'm going to borrow a line and say we're almost seeing all the seasons in one day. Nevertheless, in the coming months I'm embarking on working most of the week and studying part-time (half the study load) to finish off my degree so here's a good start!

Got my wisdom teeth out and subsisted on yoghurt and smoothies, treating myself to almond milk pancakes one morning. Frozen blueberries are bomb.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Long time no blog! I hope all the Aussies had a great Australia Day holiday- I spent it at a The Hobbit movie marathon at a friend's place and I'm currently recovering from wisdom teeth surgery - I got all 4 out because they were all erupting and starting to grow in the way of my other teeth. Chipmunk cheeks and a liquid/soft food diet isn't fun but I'm appreciating the time off because it means I can get some stuff done that I don't normally have time for during the workweek, like blogging!

Another exciting purchase is the new Inspiration/Be Brave/ Hello Yellow-themed Paper Lover's Book from kikki.K! I was contemplating a Dashboard Kit or some fun pack to decorate my planner with, but when I saw this I knew I had to get it because I use the Mountains-themed Paper Lover's Book that I got for my birthday in 2015 all the time and it's very well-loved. I like using the cards and postcards and stickers that come in the Paper Lover's Book. At $30 it's not expensive but it's not cheap either- I find I get a lot of use out of them so I'm very happy with it!

Saturday, January 2, 2016

2015 was a great year, but it's time for 2016! I'm sorry I didn't manage to finish my 12 Days of Christmas because posting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were a bit difficult. I rang in the new year with a tame gathering at a friend's place and sparklers that managed to burn a hole in the sofa...

Kicking off 2016 with a drive down to Burleigh Heads, a lot of congested traffic on the motorway and a gorgeous windy day at the beach.